Door-operating mechanism for railway-cars.



S. OTIS.

Dooe OPERATING MEcHANIsM Poe RAILWAY GARS.

APPLIU'ATIONFILED APR. 13, 1907. 935,050, Y Patented Sept. 28, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Y1,

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APPLIOATION FILED APE. 13, 1907.

935,050. Patentedv sept. 28, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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SPENCER O'IIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO NATIONAL DUMP CARCOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

DOOR-OPERATING- MECI-IANISIW FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, SPENCER Orts, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Operating Mechanismfor Railway-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to railway cars, especially to that type of dumpcar having dumping doors in its Hoor, and has for its object to providea new and improved operating` and supporting mechanism for these doors.

In the accompanying drawing-Figure l is a transverse section through oneof the dumping doors ofsuch a car, showing my improved operating andsupporting mechanism, the door being in closed position. F 2 is asimilar view, showing the door in its open position. Fig. 8 is afragmentary view of part of the end of the car, showing the mechanismfor rotating the door operating shaft, the parts being in the positionassumed when the door is closed. Fig. l is a view similar to Fig. 3, butshowing the parts in the position assumed when the door is opened.

As is well-known, side dumping cars of the i National type embody a fiatfloor composed entirely, or substantially entirely, of dumping doorshinged in series on each side of the center sill. These doors aresupported by a shaft extending longitudinally of the car, the doorsbeing opened and closed and supported during their opening and closingmovements by the operation of the shaft.

In the drawings, o indicates one of the hinged dumping doors, hinged asusual to or adjacent to the center sill at I).

c represents one of the transverse members of the underfran'ie.

(Z is a plate having a curved edge extending downwardly and inwardly inrelation to the car underframe, this curved plate being formed with arack tl, the teeth of which are spaced apart, as clearly indicated inthe drawings. This rack is connected along its upper portion Z2 to thetransverse member of the underfranie nea-r the outer end thereof. Therack plate is provided at its upper outer corner with a recessed portioncl3 and the end of the transverse member of the underframe iscorrespondingly recessed, form- Specificaton of Letters Patent.

Application led April 13, 1907.

Patented Sept. 28, 1909.. serial no. 368,058.

ing at the outer end of this transverse member an inwardly extendingrecessed portion. l t will be o-bserved that l provide on the end of thetransverse member of the underframe a downwardly and inwardly extendingrack. At the upper end of this rack I provide a horizontal inwardlyextending portion by means of additional teeth tlf. The door snpportingshaft e, which travels upon the inclined track c fixed to the under sideof the door, as is usual in this type of car, rests, when the door is inclosed position, upon this horizontal inwardly extending portion of therack, the shaft being provided with suitable gear wheels c engaging therack, as will be readily understood.

Then in its closed position, the shaft forms a secure and etlicientsupporting and locking device to hold the door in its closed position.The shaft is rotatably mounted in swinging arms f, which are hung frompivots f2 suitably connected to the underframe of the car, and theseswinging arms are provided with slots f for a purpose presently to bedescribed. The shaft may be operated by any suitable operatingmechanism, as, for example, by suitable lever and ratchet wheels mountedupon the end of the shaft, such as disclosed, for example, in the patentto Caswell Reissue No. 12,447, reissued February 1G, 1906, or in thepatent to @tis No. 780,759, of January 24, 1905.

Mechanism for operating the shaft c adapted for use with the structureabove described is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4f, The operating lever gis pivoted upon the shaft c and carries a reversible pawl z'. A detentis pivotally mounted Y upon the hanger j' and serves to restrain theshaft c against reverse movement when the same is being actuated by thelever g and pawl z'. lt will readily be apparent that in raising thedoor from the position shown in Fig. 4, the pawl z' will be turned tothe position shown, thus engaging the pinion L which is fixed to theshaft e and the shaft will be rotated in clockwise direction. Nhenthe'lever is thrownover to begin a new stroke the shaft c will be heldagainst reverse rotation by the detent j, and as the pinions e upon theshaft c are in engagement with the rack teeth CZ the shaft and hanger fwill be held against downward movement. The pinion la, of course, isconstructed of suliicient width to permit the pawl z' and detent j toengage therewith without conflict. In its movement to lopen and closethe doors, the shaft swings inwardly and outwardly, the gear wheelsthereon traveling upon the outer face of the curved rack, being held inengagement therewith through the swinging links f. Then the door reachesits closed position, the shaft traveling over the horizontal upper partof the rack runs inwardly, this inward motion being `permitted by meansof the slotted connection between the swinging arm and its pivot.

It will be seen that I have provided a very simple guiding and operatingmechanism, in which the shaft is guided during its movements, and one inwhich the shaft forms a very etlicient supporting means for the doorboth in open and closed positions and during its movements.

l claim:

Il. A car comprising a hinged door, a` rotatable shaft mounted in apivoted bearing, means for rotating said shaft, and means cngagiug saidshaft to cause it to move bodily when rotated.

2. A car comprising a hinged door, a rack mounted in the car under-frameand provided with teeth on its under and upper surface, a rotatableshaft mounted in a movable bearing, a gear upon said shaft meshing withsaid rack, and means for rotating said shaft- 3. A car comprising ahinged door, a rotatable shaft mounted in a pivotcd and bodily movablearm, a rack having teeth on its under surface concentric with the pivotreferred to and also having teeth on its upper surface, and a pinion onsaid shaft engaging said racl.

t. In a car, a hinged door, a rotatable. shaft mounted in a movablebearing, a support fixed to the ear underframe, means` causing saidshaft when rotated to move out- 'ardly and upwardly beneath said doorand inwardly between said door and support.

A railway car having a floor comprisingI hinged dumping doors, aswinging rotatable shaft mounted in the underframe of the car supportingand operating the doors, a down 'ardly curved rack having the horizontalupper portion secured to a transverse member of the underframe, a gearwheel on the shaft engaging the outer' face of the raclt, and meanspermitting the inward movement of the shaft when the door reaches itsclosed position.

(5. A railway car having a floor comprising hinged dumping doors, aplate attached to the underfraine, said plate being provided with adownwardly and kinwardly curved guide on its outer face and with ahorizontal. upper port-ion, and a door operating shaft engaging thecurved outer face of the guide during the opening and closing movementsof the door and restingl on the horizontal portion of the guide when thedoor is in closed position.

7. A railway car having a floor comprising hinged dumping doors, a dooroperating and supporting shaft extending longitudinally of the carbeneath the doors, slotted swinging arms in which the shaft isjournaled, guide plates having a curved guiding face engaged by theshaft during the opening and closing movements of the door, and ahorizontally supporting face engaged by the shaft when the door isclosed. v

8. A, railway car having a floor comprising hinged dumpingdoors, a plateattached to the underfri me provided with a curved guide portion and ahorizontal supporting portion, a door supporting and operating shaft,and means for holding the shaft in engagement with theV curved face ofthe plate during the opening and closing movements of the door and forpermitting the inward movement of the shaft when the door is closed. I

t). A railway car having a floor comprising hinged dumping doors, aswinging rotatable shaft mounted in the frame of the car and engaging'the under face of the doors to open and close the doors, and positivemeans also mounted. in the underfraine for compelling the rotation ofthe shaft during the opening and closing movements of the door.

SPENCER UTS.

Vitnesses:

Guo. L. lViLnilNsoN, lV. T. .loNus

